The role of God?
May 23rd 2006 00:14
The role of God?
Today I will talk about the role of religion in ethics. Because this is a large topic today I will simply introduce the main themes. Firstly I will need to say a little about what religion is then I will look at how various religions are related to ethics and finish by mentioning what I see as the most controversial issues in religious ethics today.
What religion is
The Dalai Lama had respect for all faiths because he said all religion aims to make people better people. The truth of this is perhaps controversial but it does point to a shared aspect of all religions. In some way or another every religion concerns itself with ethics. Of course ethics not the entire scope of any religion. Most religions also entail a system of metaphysical belief. (Concisely, metaphysics is the philosophical investigation of the nature, constitution and structure of reality.) Often the metaphysical beliefs of a faith impact greatly on the ethical framework arising out of those faiths. For our purposes here, we need to know two things about religion; that it concerns itself with ethics and that it entails a metaphysical foundation.
Those of you who read yesterdays post will remember that I talked briefly about Christianity in the context of ethical frameworks. Today I will talk more generally about theistic religions. Theistic religions posit one or many divine beings. The ancient Greeks believed in a pantheon of gods. Other religions including Christianity and Islamism believe in a single god. In all cases the notion of right and wrong is linked to the god (or gods).
God is often taken as an axiom of the ethical framework. Within Christianity God might be seen as the divine arbiter of right and wrong conduct. The 10 commandments are the word of God and must be obeyed because they are the will of God. In all instances the good accords with Gods will. On this interpretation the good is good precisely because God wills it. As said yesterday there are problems with this interpretation. What if God had commanded us to rape and murder? Would it then be right to rape and murder? Most of us I think would say no. It may be a tempting answer to say that God would not command such things but this appears to point at a notion of objective good that doesnt originate with God. This provides an alternative interpretation; God perceives the good and commands it. This interpretation is also problematic. However the point here is simply to illustrate the connectedness of Christianitys metaphysical beliefs with its ethical framework.
Unfortunately my knowledge of other religions is limited so I wont attempt to provide further examples at this introductory stage. Suffice it to say that in general other religions also use elements of their metaphysical belief systems as axioms within their ethical frameworks.
Now I will briefly mention a few of the current issues surrounding religion and ethics. Firstly, globalisation, international travel and immigration have resulted in members of divergent faiths living and working in close proximity. Members of different faiths carry different ethical frameworks. To avoid conflict it is necessary to exercise toleration towards other faiths. However the mixing of faiths and cultures prompts a few important questions. Which faith is right? Can more than one faith be right? To what extent do faiths disagree anyway? I will return to these questions when I discuss ethical relativism.
Another contentious issue is the role of religion in governance. Why is this important to ethics? As I will discuss later when I turn to the ethics of politics, governments need an ethical justification and an ethical framework from which to operate. Of course this relates back to the previous issue, in a multi faith state shouldnt government be secular? What role did conservative Christian values have the US invasion of Iraq? Also important here is Sharia law in modern nations. Is it legitimate ethically?
Many modern ethical dilemmas take on religious arguments and standpoints. For example the abortion debate and the stem cell debate are dominated by religious argumentation. Likewise the debate over sexuality and homosexual union and marriage involves many religious arguments. These three examples are important and fascinating debates and will be discussed separately at a latter stage.
Other more theoretical questions may be asked. Is ethics without religion possible? Atheists (including myself) need to find a justifiable ethical framework whilst religions give their followers a ready packaged product. Can an ethics that transcends faith be found? Is there one single objective good? And if so, which faith if any gets it right? Or is ethics relative?
So I hope I have conveyed the basics of religion and ethics. How a persons religion provides them with an ethical framework and how this framework takes metaphysical beliefs as its axioms. In the future we will look in more detail at a few religious ethical frameworks as well as discussing how the various religious ethical frameworks impact on ethical issues.
Today I will talk about the role of religion in ethics. Because this is a large topic today I will simply introduce the main themes. Firstly I will need to say a little about what religion is then I will look at how various religions are related to ethics and finish by mentioning what I see as the most controversial issues in religious ethics today.
What religion is
The Dalai Lama had respect for all faiths because he said all religion aims to make people better people. The truth of this is perhaps controversial but it does point to a shared aspect of all religions. In some way or another every religion concerns itself with ethics. Of course ethics not the entire scope of any religion. Most religions also entail a system of metaphysical belief. (Concisely, metaphysics is the philosophical investigation of the nature, constitution and structure of reality.) Often the metaphysical beliefs of a faith impact greatly on the ethical framework arising out of those faiths. For our purposes here, we need to know two things about religion; that it concerns itself with ethics and that it entails a metaphysical foundation.
Those of you who read yesterdays post will remember that I talked briefly about Christianity in the context of ethical frameworks. Today I will talk more generally about theistic religions. Theistic religions posit one or many divine beings. The ancient Greeks believed in a pantheon of gods. Other religions including Christianity and Islamism believe in a single god. In all cases the notion of right and wrong is linked to the god (or gods).
God is often taken as an axiom of the ethical framework. Within Christianity God might be seen as the divine arbiter of right and wrong conduct. The 10 commandments are the word of God and must be obeyed because they are the will of God. In all instances the good accords with Gods will. On this interpretation the good is good precisely because God wills it. As said yesterday there are problems with this interpretation. What if God had commanded us to rape and murder? Would it then be right to rape and murder? Most of us I think would say no. It may be a tempting answer to say that God would not command such things but this appears to point at a notion of objective good that doesnt originate with God. This provides an alternative interpretation; God perceives the good and commands it. This interpretation is also problematic. However the point here is simply to illustrate the connectedness of Christianitys metaphysical beliefs with its ethical framework.
Unfortunately my knowledge of other religions is limited so I wont attempt to provide further examples at this introductory stage. Suffice it to say that in general other religions also use elements of their metaphysical belief systems as axioms within their ethical frameworks.
Now I will briefly mention a few of the current issues surrounding religion and ethics. Firstly, globalisation, international travel and immigration have resulted in members of divergent faiths living and working in close proximity. Members of different faiths carry different ethical frameworks. To avoid conflict it is necessary to exercise toleration towards other faiths. However the mixing of faiths and cultures prompts a few important questions. Which faith is right? Can more than one faith be right? To what extent do faiths disagree anyway? I will return to these questions when I discuss ethical relativism.
Another contentious issue is the role of religion in governance. Why is this important to ethics? As I will discuss later when I turn to the ethics of politics, governments need an ethical justification and an ethical framework from which to operate. Of course this relates back to the previous issue, in a multi faith state shouldnt government be secular? What role did conservative Christian values have the US invasion of Iraq? Also important here is Sharia law in modern nations. Is it legitimate ethically?
Many modern ethical dilemmas take on religious arguments and standpoints. For example the abortion debate and the stem cell debate are dominated by religious argumentation. Likewise the debate over sexuality and homosexual union and marriage involves many religious arguments. These three examples are important and fascinating debates and will be discussed separately at a latter stage.
Other more theoretical questions may be asked. Is ethics without religion possible? Atheists (including myself) need to find a justifiable ethical framework whilst religions give their followers a ready packaged product. Can an ethics that transcends faith be found? Is there one single objective good? And if so, which faith if any gets it right? Or is ethics relative?
So I hope I have conveyed the basics of religion and ethics. How a persons religion provides them with an ethical framework and how this framework takes metaphysical beliefs as its axioms. In the future we will look in more detail at a few religious ethical frameworks as well as discussing how the various religious ethical frameworks impact on ethical issues.
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